363 Comments

Regarding the photo above Philip Rotner's column: We used to call that a "duck's ass". Very fitting in this case.

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Huh...Bill Kristol thinks that he knows better than the Joint Chiefs about what's REALLY going on with Iran.

Pretty sure we've been down this road with him before. Pretty sure it ended badly, but not for too many Republicans in power, just the sons and daughters of their base. Of those of us who signed up based on a lie.

Bill Kristol continues to be a war monger, 100% willing to sacrafice other people's children.

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"There’s lots of Republicans out there ..."

How did 2nd person singular of the verb 'to be' (is) take the place of 2nd person plural (are). To be or not to be, that are the question.

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Is no one going to correct the faulty reporting, above, on Siena's polling? It's minor, but, c'mon, man.

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Poor Sununu - he does not know which side to chose? But, does he know that neither side will want to select him! What is Nikki going to do? She wants to speak at the MAGA/GOP Convention this summer! Her spot is in question, too. That head guy will want to punish both of them for going against him? Stay tuned!

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I expected Cohen to finish his noting the inflection point with "Israel's direct attack on Iranian soil (its embassy)". A direct attack is an act of war. The first ever between these two belligerents. Iran's attack was a response.

It was Israel's attack that was an inflection point.

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I agree that a "deteriorating geopolitical environment" is happening in slow motion before our eyes. Could it be that, to young people, diplomacy is starting to look like weakness and bravado is starting to look like security? If the U.S. is clinging to an outdated strategy of containment and caution, maybe the "spidey sense" of reasonable young Dems is telling them that something's not right.

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I couldn’t agree more Kari Lake truly does need gods guidance!

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Listening to Public radio: they think this was a scam. When our National Security-Military makes a mistake we hear moaning. Now that Iran fails to land a glove on Israel-we hear-“it was a set up”. Damned if you do-damned if you don’t. And this while we still have to deal with Trump’s explanation. No unity. Many agendas.

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Israel attacked Iran in Damascus without telling the United States. That should be the headline. And Joe Biden came to their defense anyway!

Stop escalating with Iran. This wasn’t a serious attack by Iran it was telegraphed. The US is 100000000000% doing the right thing by avoiding attacking Iran. Netanyahu wanted the US to strike Iran back in 2012. He cares nothing for consequences to US troops.

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Nobody has a problem with Israel bombing the Iranian EMBASSY compound in Syria?

Things are going to start getting extra messy if embassies and other diplomatic structures are considered fair game in military conflicts.

Israel literally attacked what is legally considered Iranian soil in Syria. Iran responded in kind, except they announced everything in advance to make their missiles easier to shoot down. And Iran considers the matter settled now.

Ball is in Israel's court. But what exactly did they expect Iran to do when faced with such a brazen attack on its sovereignty? We all know that Israel and the United States would have mounted an exponentially larger response.

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Chris Sununu highlights what is at the heart of the polling that you discuss here. Trump would be truly offensive if he seemed truly aberrant. But to young people - who have always lived in a world full of Trumpicans - there is no memory of how people COULD behave, Democrat OR Republican. I did not like a lot of Reagan/ Bush policies. But they did not behave like assholes 24/7, like young people would assume all politicians do (with a very few exceptions). Especially poilticians who are older white males (which I am too). So "grab 'em by the pussy" was a long time ago.

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Ah, here comes the neocons. Eliot Cohen opinion article from WSJ in 2001: "Iraq Can't Resist Us

The Gulf War was a cakewalk. The enemy is even weaker now."

In 2017, he seemed to accept that the Iraq war was a "mistake" (let's not consider the millions of Iraqis who were killed or forced to leave the country or the thousands of dead and maimed US troops):

"and for the most part, he owns up to recent U.S. failures. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States was “unprepared, intellectually and organizationally.” It made “fundamental misjudgments,” and the military adapted only haltingly and intermittently to the new forms of conflict it faced. Ultimately, Cohen concludes, the Iraq War, which he once staunchly supported, was “a mistake.” False intelligence about weapons of mass destruction damaged U.S. credibility, as did the abuses at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. More broadly, the war strained civil-military relations, caused tensions with key U.S. allies and left the United States weaker rather than stronger."

https://wapo.st/4aVoKkN (no paywall)

And let's remember, Israel attacked Iran first. They should understand overly aggressive retaliations.

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Bill, how long has the Middle

East been at war with one

faction of itself or another?

Your memory must be very

cloudy on how we got into

the messes of Gulf War II and

Afghanistan. How'd they turn

out for us?

I'm a Vietnam Gold Star wife.

My grandchildren served in

Iraq and Afghanistan. I am

not a war hawk. I'm not a

pacifist either if we're

attacked. I believe in

supporting our allies up to

a point. Personally, I don't

want to see US boots on the

ground in combat for the rest

of my life.

You should be talking to the

TrumpMaga House reps and

Speaker to get that bill for

aid to Ukraine, Taiwan and

Israel voted on. That's what's

needed now. Not armed

combat.

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If you're really wanting a war, take heart. The NY Times: "Benny Gantz, a centrist minister and one of three voting members of the war cabinet, said that Israel should exact a price from Iran, but only 'in a way and at a time that suits us.' Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister, then criticized Mr. Gantz for his perceived moderation, arguing that Israel should deter Iran by going 'crazy.'"

So a centrist minister wants to "exact a price" when it's convenient and a far-right minister advocates leadership's complete mental breakdown and some military lunacy to match. Split that difference and you get a modestly fast retaliation just short of leveling Tehran.

If these were last night's hopeful indications (as The Times wrote), I'd not care to read the frightful ones.

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Apr 15·edited Apr 15

So much for better dead than red /s

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